For high-jumper Tejaswin Shankar, scaling new heights is a gradual process and not an overnight one

The scars of the accident are fresh in the memory. Tejaswin Shankar was heading to the local swimming pool on his scooter, with his younger cousin in tow.

It was pouring heavily and though Tejaswin maintains that he wasn’t speeding, a right turn went awry and he landed heavily on his knee, rupturing it. He is thankful that his brother landed on top of him and not elsewhere, stating that it would be “unforgivable” if it so had happened.

The timing of the incident was unfortunate, coming as it did three days prior to the selection of the team for the World Junior Athletics Championships and 10 days before the Championships themselves.

At Bydgoszcz in Poland in July 2016, Neeraj Chopra broke the world junior record for the javelin throw, also setting a national record and becoming a world champion in the process.

Back home in Delhi, Tejaswin knew he had blown his biggest shot till date, as a jump of 2.25 metres by Darius Carbin saw the US athlete claim silver in the competition. Shankar would break the national record with a jump of 2.26 metres later that year but potentially missed out on a World Championship medal.

“It was the darkest day of my career,” says Tejaswin.

Fire in his belly

He would aggravate the injury at the Asian Junior Championships, landing awkwardly after a jump. The four-month lay-off would culminate in him breaking Harishankar Roy’s 12-year old record set in 2004 at the junior national championship in Coimbatore, winning gold in the Under-18 category.

He would also miss the Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar due to his board examinations, and he says the pain of him missing the two most-important meets of his life has motivated him. “It does light the fire in your belly. It makes me want to do better in senior meets.”

A meeting with Gary Calvert, one-time coach of Neeraj Chopra in Bengaluru put him on his path to the United States. “I didn’t have any plans and was planning to apply to Delhi University. Coach [Calvert] told me to apply to Kansas State [University].”

After looking at his high jump video, coach Cliff Rovelto would grill him about his consistency, his second and third highest marks as well as his triple jump bests, something that he says stood out from most Indian coaches.

Soon, Shankar would be training next to 2012 Olympic silver medallist Eric Kynard, both partner and coach. Tejaswin is bullish about his prospects, “When I arrived, I was in awe of my surroundings. Now, I want to compete in the same field as him.”

From fast bowling to athletics

Life could have been very different for the six-foot-four-inch Shankar. Even as he broke the Indian indoor national record for the high jump at the recently held Razorback International, he was getting up every morning to check the scores of the India-South Africa Test match and the IPL auction.

Till 2014, Shankar would have envisioned himself as part of that auction, as athletics was just strength training to help the young fast bowler get more power in his legs. His father’s death in 2014 had left the youngster with a sense of purpose.

“You’re this happy, bubbly kid. Suddenly, one day, you look around and see that things have to change,” he says. “I just didn’t want to be another nobody. I am not sure whether I could have made the cut at the national or the cricket level. I’m glad I followed my coach Sunil Kumar’s advice asking me to switch from cricket to athletics.”

The former student of Sardar Patel Vidyalaya in New Delhi was left frustrated with his beginnings in athletics. “I wasn’t confident of breaking anything. Then in 2015, I jumped 2.07 [metres] in the school championship where no else crossed 2.” That was the breakthrough year for the high jumper, born in Varanasi, as he won bronze at the Asian youth championships and gold at the World school championships.

Originally hailing from Tamil Nadu, his first major senior meet, the SAF Games in Guwahati held in February 2016 ended with a silver and a jump of 2.17 metres before the aforementioned injury put him out of commission.

Conditions for athletes are hardly ideal in India, and with dope control officials missing in Coimbatore, the national record almost went up in smoke. Not informed about a trial for the AAC, he returned at the Inter-State Championships only to jump with breaks in pouring rain. “My socks, my shoes, everything was wet. I managed to jump 2.23 metres.”

Gaps in competition, a lack of training facilities amidst other factors make Tejaswin’s choice look like the right one and with increased intensity in training and competition, his season is already up and running as opposed to an athlete in India, having to wait for the Federation Cup in India for their first major competition of the year.

Gradual climb up the ladder

Tejaswin’s path, a collegiate scholarship in the US, is one rarely trodden on by an Indian athlete, making him only the second from the country and the first since triple-jumper Mohinder Singh Gill in the 1970s. His ordeal shines a light on what the experience might look like for future athletes who may want to follow in his footsteps.

“When I first arrived, it was a challenge to adapt. Being so far away from home, you’re psychologically challenged and left scratching your head. It has been a tough beginning, my body is bruised but I am tougher than before.”

One of the first things that coach Rovelto taught Tejaswin was a change in technique. His take-off which was much closer earlier, has been pushed back, in order to try and clear greater heights. His run-up, has been redefined to an arc and there is more pressure on his legs and the back muscles.

“The challenge in high-jump is to convert horizontal velocity into vertical height,” Tejaswin says. “I have been building my strength. In India, when I lifted weights three times a week, people used to tell me, that’s too much. Here I do it four times. It has been hard on my body.”

The grind may just prove beneficial in the long run. “There are days when I am frustrated that I can’t make a single jump,” he adds. “The coach tells me I should work on my strength and conditioning in the meanwhile. He doesn’t want me to do jump 2.35 at once. He wants me to first do 2.25 consistently, then 2.30 and finally 2.35.”

Renewed focus academics

His outlook on academics has also changed. “In Delhi, sometimes they passed me or told me we’ll take care of your exam,” while mischievously adding, “Sometimes I missed competitions, sitting at home and they would pass me.”

Tejaswin is pursuing a Bachelors in Business Administration at Kansas State. “A good athlete does everything, including studies,” he says. “I happen to come from a family where there is strict focus on academics. Here if I don’t get the requisite score, there will be no collegiate competition for me for that year and my name will be struck off the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) register.”

Since the first two years at KSU are general studies, his renewed focus has also got him thinking about switching to economics. In his first semester, he did get a 3.5 Grade Point Average on a scale of 4.

The objective for the season has also changed from grades and meets to achieving a modicum of consistency. He refuses to entertain talk of setting particular heights at the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, insisting on taking it “one jump at a time”.

Cautiousness has also crept in, as Tejaswin wants to make sure he passes the 2.25-metre mark before coming to India for the Federation Cup, which also serves as a Commonwealth Games trial in March. “I will be jet-lagged after an 11-hour journey and I am flying close to the date, so I don’t want to take any chances.”

Unfortunately for him, he will be missing the NCAA Division I Senior Championships but a new rule by the Athletics Federation of India makes it mandatory for athletes to turn out for trials in the country before being selected for the team in major meets.

There are lighter moments too, during the conversation. When nudged about potential love interests, he says, “I was very straight-edge back home and I thought I would come here and find a suitable girl. But my mom says, ‘Gori bahu nahi chahiye (I don’t want a white daughter-in-law). I guess I’ll just have to go back when I’m 25 and find one.”

Time is fast approaching

The camaraderie between him and Neeraj is a blossoming one, Tejaswin says. “We sometimes text each other. He asks me how I’m doing. I have massive respect for what he did, the world record came at a right time and that too without a coach at that instant. It was the perfect boost for Indian athletics as well.”

Tejaswin is among a bunch of Indian teens, Amoj Jacob and Jisna Mathew included, who are emerging on the track-and-field circuit.

The tale of Harishankar Roy though is a warning and an important anecdote to Tejaswin. “He broke the record when he was also very young – 18-19 years of age – but could never progress beyond that. I have often wondered why and I have learnt not to count my chickens before they hatch.”

Perhaps all the challenges that life has thrown at Tejaswin have made him focus only on the immediate future and not the mega events. His impact, though is being felt in the US.

The youngest of the top three finishers at the Razorback; who was the athlete that he pushed into fourth spot? The very same Darius Corbin, junior world championship silver medallist and now at Georgia.

For one of the best Indian athletes in his generation, the wait for his time has been one filled with pain and patience. This time around, a more mature, level-headed, stronger Tejaswin Shankar is determined to make it count.